The clouds are gathering : developments in Taiwanese constitutional law - the year 2016 in review

In this essay, we provide an overview of constitutional law and politics resulting from the historical elections in January 2016 in the light of Taiwanese political and constitutional development. We take account of the new constitutional landscape opened by the January elections, the constitutional politics of judicial appointment, the constitutional controversies surrounding transitional justice and same-sex marriage, and the case law of the Taiwan Constitutional Court (TCC). Taken together, we observe that constitutional law and politics in 2016 develops as if it is a multi-act constitutional play culminating in the drive towards the legalization of same-sex marriage, with President, Legislators, judicial nominees, and activists playing the leading roles in the unfolding drama. Though the TCC appears to be the bland deuteragonist in the 2016 constitutional play, we suggest that as the issues surrounding various reforms are being translated into constitutional questions, the TCC may well take center stage in the next play. With the upcoming judicial fights in sight, the play of constitutional development in 2016 is best entitled “The Clouds Are Gathering.

EXPLORING CALL CENTER ENABLED MECHANISMS FOR FIRM\u27S COMBINATIVE CAPABILITIES

The knowledge mechanisms of call centers have been emphasized by many pervious studies. Yet there is little empirical research that examines the call centers\u27 influence on firms\u27 combinative capabilities. To address this gap, this study examines call center enabled organizational mechanisms that contribute to the firms\u27 combinative capabilities. The study identifies differential effects from three types of combinative capabilities including system capabilities, coordination capabilities, and socialization capabilities. Through in-depth case studies of four Taiwanese call centers, this study finds seven organizational mechanisms including centralized information deployment and knowledge encapsulation, institution changing and foolproof, information hub and relationship management, decision making ladder, training center, network configuration, and job embeddedness . The findings provide practical implications to industry managers engaged in call center implementations from a combinative capabilities perspective. Future research directions are also discussed

High efficiency silicon nanodisk laser based on colloidal CdSe/ZnS QDs

Using colloidal CdSe/ZnS quantum dots in the submicron-sized silicon disk cavity, we have developed a visible wavelength nanodisk laser that operates under extremely low threshold power at room temperature. Time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) of QDs; nanodisk by e-beam lithography. Observation of lasing action at 594 nm wavelength for quantum dots on a nanodisk (750 nm in diameter) cavity and an ultra-low threshold of 2.8 µW. From QD concentration dependence studies we achieved nearly sevenfold increase in spontaneous emission (SE) rate. We have achieved high efficient and high SE coupling rate in such a QD nanodisk laser